Bikers’ plea to repair Jury’s Gap Road

Jack Duggan

A motorcycle campaign group is calling for ‘dangerous’ Jury’s Gap Road to be repaired after a biker was injured in a crash last month.

Motorcycle Action Group campaign coordinator Phil Pickering believes there are at least two defects that need fixing on Jury’s Gap Road.

The ‘speed bump’, as he referred to it, caused a biker to lose control and crash on July 9, according to Mr Pickering, who believes the council is at fault.

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) promised to resurface the road ‘in the next financial year’ as it has ‘limited resources’.

The campaigner believes the road gets overlooked as it is right on the edge of the county.

“My gut feeling is that with this being the last stretch of road that East Sussex have to mind before the Kent border, it gets overlooked and maintenance gets forgotten about,” he said.

“But when you think the A259 and Jury’s Gap Road are the only two roads into Kent.

“If there’s an accident on the A259 the traffic on Jury’s Gap Road increases, so it needs to be maintained.”

Mr Pickering has been urging ESCC to repair the roads for months as he foresaw a crash happening because of the two ‘major’ defects on the road between Camber and Lydd.

His worst fears became reality when the biker crashed last month, which left him in hospital with multiple injuries.

“I passed the scene of that accident and I was horrified that what I have been saying for over a year has finally happened and resulted in serious injuries to someone,” he said.

The campaigner complained to ESCC for not repairing the road sooner, as he said he had met with a council officer earlier this year on the road and agreed it needed fixing.

ESCC told him it does not have the money but the campaigner believes it should use emergency funds as it is an issue of public safety.

“Everything I say is swept aside which is what makes me so angry,” he said.

“It’s terrible they are putting people’s lives ahead of public spending.”

An East Sussex Highways spokesman said the road was not a priority for repair before 2017.

“We are aware of the concerns raised by Mr Pickering about the condition of Jury’s Gap Road and we explained to him the action we will be taking at this location,” the spokesman said.

“Our highways stewards regularly carry out routine checks of roads around the county and also investigate issues raised by members of the public.

“However, the fact that we have limited resources means we have to prioritise work for those roads in most urgent need of repair. Jury’s Gap Road is on our schedule of roads to be resurfaced and this is due to be carried out in the next financial year.

“We will also be carrying out a full review of the road markings and implementing new signs and hazard marker posts as appropriate.”

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